Masque de Hogwarts
by LuckyMoonProngs
Summary: What happens to poor Snape when he can't get out of Dumbledore's newest order, Read the muggle book The Phantom of the Opera?


Disclaimer - We own nothing of canon, merely anything original. We acknowledge ownership by JKR, etc. and mean no infringement on copyrights thereof.  
(This one-shot is not meant to be taken seriously! Have fun!)

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Masque de Hogwarts

by 'Ponine and Zenn

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_The curtain opens on a dark dungeon. A man sits in a green chair, holding a novel, which he looks at distastefully._

"That old coot." Severus Snape snarled angrily. "I can not believe Dumbledore is making us read this despicable Muggle . . . _book_."

Touching as little of the manuscript as possible, Severus turned it over, reading the cover.

"_The Phantom of the Opera_." Severus raised an eyebrow. "What kind of title is that? What would muggles know of phantoms? Ridiculous."

Resigning himself to a wasted evening, Severus sighed and opened the book. He sat further back in his seat and muttered a spell to increase the lighting in the dank room. The fireplace sat cold and empty, but Severus was quite used to the chill.

_Prologue. In which the author of this singular work informs the reader how he acquired the certainty that the opera ghost really existed._

"How utterly plebeian." Severus groused.

_The opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination . . ._

Severus managed to get through a number of chapters before finding himself growing tired. He shifted in his seat and continued reading. After a time, the room grew dark and his surroundings recast.

Blinking Severus stood, glancing around wildly as music began playing. The eerie instrumental increased in resonance and tempo, as bright lights began swirling around him. Suddenly he found himself in a room of blinding colours, which were still whirling. Belatedly, he realized the colours were dancing people in fancy, and rather old-fashioned, costumes. Looking down, he took a step backwards as he saw that he was clothed in just as ostentatious clothing. Running a hand over his hair, he felt a rather strange headdress, seeming to consist of horns of some type. His skin flushed slightly, and he tried to run. Unfortunately, his feet seemed stuck in place.

"Monsieur Lupin!" Severus stilled, realizing he had just yelled that out.

"Monsieur Snape!" Lupin exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder, to Severus' immense chagrin.

Suddenly, Severus again found his voice being used with out his permission. And he found it was being used in song. "Dear Lupin, what a splendid party." Severus clamped his jaw shut, his eyes widening in horror. But he couldn't force himself to move. Or remain quiet.

"The prelude to a bright new year!" Lupin sang, smiling inanely.

"Quite a night, I'm impressed," responded Severus, wincing inwardly.

"Well, one does one's best!"

"Here's to us!" Severus and Lupin sang in unison.

"A toast of all the castle!" Severus intoned, still unable to stop himself.

"What a pity that Malfoy can't be here!" Lupin sang, and Severus glanced quickly at him, an eyebrow raised.

Abruptly, the noise reached deafening levels as the residents of Hogwarts stormed in front of the two men. Snape struggled backwards, against the onslaught of coloured costumes, but found he no longer had any control of his faculties. Instead, his body moved him to join the dancing masses.

In unison, the crowd sang, "Masquerade! Paper faces on parade. Masquerade! Hide your face so the world will never find you. Masquerade! Every face a different shade. Masquerade! Look around, there's another mask behind you."

As the singing continued, Severus attempted to wrench his arm from Lupin, who now had it in a tight, friendly grip. Finding he couldn't, and figuring that he must be in Hell, Severus resigned himself to acting out this punishment.

"Masquerade! Take your fill, let the spectacle astound you. Masquerade! Earning glances, turning heads. Masquerade! Stop and stare at the sea of smiles around you.

Masquerade. Seething shadows, breathing lies. Masquerade. You can fool any friend who ever knew you."

Severus now found himself being led towards a group of familiar faces. Although his outward expression refused to change, inwardly he scowled.

"Masquerade! Run and hide, but a face will still pursue you."

"What a night!" claimed McGonagall, in a gown of dark gold. Severus stared for a moment, before another voice began singing.

"What a crowd!" sang Hagrid, coming up beside McGonagall.

Snape answered, "Makes you glad!"

"Makes you proud! All the cremé de la cremé." bragged a still grinning werewolf.

Suddenly, Pansy Parkinson came up to them in a sickening dress of puce, latching on to Hagrid's arm. "Watching us, watching them."

"All our fears are in the past." sang the Weasley girl, in a surprisingly pleasant alto.

"Three months." exclaimed Severus, though he had no idea what he was talking, rather singing, about.

Hagrid answered, "Of relief."

"Of delight." Pansy replied.

"Of Elysian peace," supplied Lupin. Severus still had no inkling of what was going on, but he still responded.

"And we can breath at last."

"No more notes." Pansy claimed, and Hagrid continued, "No more ghost."

"Here's to health." McGonagall raised a glass filled with wine. Severus again stared, as he had never known her to touch alcohol.

"Here's a toast, to a prosperous year!" Severus sighed inwardly, as his hand too raised a glass.

"To our friends who are here!" Lupin sang, and Severus found he wanted to dump his wine over the werewolf's head.

"May our splendor never fail." Pansy and Hagrid crooned together.

"Three months." Ginny Weasley repeated Snape's earlier statement.

"What a blessed release!" sang Lupin and Severus together.

"And what a masquerade!" McGonagall said, sipping her glass.

Severus glanced around at the milling dancers. Near the wall behind him, he noticed the Golden Boy Potter and the know-it-all Granger. He tried to edge away from them, but of course, he couldn't.

"Think of it, a secret engagement. Look, your future bride! Just think of it." Granger said quietly, though Severus heard every word. _So much for secret_, he thought, inwardly smirking.

"But why is it secret? What have we to hide? You promised me." Potter answered, drawing forward to kiss her. Severus tried not to gag.

"No, Harry, please don't, they'll see." Granger said, and Severus whole-heartedly agreed.

"Then let them see. It's an engagement, not a crime. 'Mione, what are you afraid of?" Potter sang, in a young, but not terrible, tenor. Not that Severus would admit that.

"Let's not argue." Granger again.

Then Potter once more, "Let's not argue."

"Please pretend . . ."

"I can only hope I will . . ."

"You will . . ."

"Understand in time!"

As Granger and Potter pulled away to dance, Severus tried to shake his head. Not that it worked, but he attempted. An instrumental played as he found himself acting his part, though he had no clue why. _Was it a spell, _he thought desperately, _or a potion? Damnation, I hope so._

Again as the others sang, Severus joined in, most unwillingly, "Masquerade! Paper faces on parade. Masquerade! Hide your face so the world will never find you. Masquerade! Every face a different shade. Masquerade! Look around there's another mask behind you.

Masquerade! Earning glances, turning heads. Masquerade! Stop and stare at the sea of smiles around you. Masquerade! Breathing yellows, steaming reds. Masquerade! Take your fill, let the spectacle astound you . . ."

Abruptly the music changed, and the atmosphere grew tense. Glancing up some stairs, Severus saw a figure clad in dark green trousers and poet shirt. A silver mask covered much of his face, but the blond hair easily gave away the man's identity. Severus had seen Lucius Malfoy in a mask before, as a Death Eater, but this costume was very different.

"Why so silent, good monsieurs?" Lucius intoned in a baritone. "Did you think that I had left you for good? Have you missed me, good monsieurs? I have written you an opera. Here I bring the finished score." He pulled out a folder and threw it on the ground at Severus' feet. "Don Juan Triumphant!" Lucius moved nearer to them, still singing. "Fondest greetings to you all. A few instructions just before rehearsal starts."

Lucius nodded towards a staring Parkinson. "Pansy must be put to act. Not a normal trick of strutting 'round the stage." She narrowed her eyes and pouted at him.

"Our Don Juan must lose some weight. It's not healthy in a man of Hagrid's age." Lucius stuck Hagrid in the stomach with his cane. Then he turned to Severus and Lupin.

"And my managers must learn, that their place is in an office, not the Arts." Both men drew backwards as Lucius passed them, though Severus railed against showing weakness to the Malfoy patriarch. Lucius then stepped over to Granger. Potter was nowhere to be seen, which Severus thought odd.

"As for our star, Ms. Hermione Granger. No doubt, she'll do her best. It's true, her voice is good. She knows, though, should she wish to excel, she has much still to learn. If pride will let her return to me, her teacher. Her teacher." Lucius walked up to her, running a hand across her cheek, before dropping to her pendant, which seemed to be the engagement ring from Potter. Lucius wrenched it off, his eyes flashing. "Your chains are still mine. You belong to me!"

Suddenly Lucius stepped back and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Severus saw Potter run after him into a secret door that closed behind him. The crowd was screaming and Severus still couldn't control his movements. Slowly the scene melted away, the colours condensing, and Severus lost himself to it.

Abruptly, Severus sat up, glancing around and breathing heavily. Finally he realized that he was sitting in his chambers, the lights still lit and the book he was reading was on the ground. Standing up, Severus carefully kicked at the novel, staring at it suspiciously. After taking a Dreamless sleep potion, he went to bed, skirting around the book that remained on the floor.

The next morning, Severus walked into the Great Hall, his mood worse than usual. He still couldn't forget that blasted dream. Suddenly, he heard humming from the Gryffindor table. The tune was rather familiar. Much too familiar. He strode over to the student, Potter of course, and stopped behind him.

The Weasley sidekick of Potter's spoiled his arrival, as he warned the boy with a quick point and scared whisper. Severus glared, then turned to Potter, who was now staring at him.

"_What_ were you humming, Potter?" he demanded, his voice furious.

"Er, well, something I heard in a musical, Professor. Masquerade, from the Phantom of the . . ."

"DO NOT say that name! One hundred points from Gryffindor for humming, you insolent whelp!" Severus shouted, drawing nervous looks to him. At the head table, Dumbledore raised his eyebrow.

Glaring evilly, Severus then noticed a box on the table before Granger. It had a monkey holding cymbals sitting on top of it. The last few strains of a melody sounded from it. Severus sharply drew out his wand, startling the students around him, and incanted, "Reducto!" The box flew apart, and before anyone could say anything, Severus turned on his heel and fled the Great Hall in a flood of black robes.

As he walked past the front hall, a cultured voice called out to him.

"Severus, my good friend, hold hard!" Lucius stepped over to him.

Severus narrowed his eyes, garnering a furrowed brow from the other. Severus quietly, but no less dangerously, said, "You better not have written an opera, Malfoy."

Lucius blinked at him. "What are you on about, Severus? Truly, I think these students have addled your wits."

Severus scowled, turned and returned to his quarters, leaving a confounded school governor behind him. Once there, he cast a quick Incendio on the book on his floor, and went into his private lab, smirking.


End file.
